WOOLLKN GOODS. 4o 



From those statistics it will be seen that Russian wjoI dops iml iiielmlc any 

 <tf the very tine brand, AAA. Wool of the secoiul degree of fineness, AA, is contained in 

 small quantities in the Russian fleece, and a gradual depreciation in this respect is yearly 

 noticeable. The same condition is seen in France. According- to the investigations 

 of the Industrial Society of Eheims, the fineness of tiie fibre of French nun-ino wool has 

 depreciated 20 per cent during the last thirty j^ears. In the year 1889 the manufactory 

 produced 75,000 ponds of twist, weft and doubled yarns, class AAA, class AA and classes 

 A, B and C. One-half of the necessary' amount of combed wool was prepared in the mill and 

 the other half was procured from foreign markets. For the manufacture of yarns classes 

 AAA and AA wool were imported, part of which was combed and part was scoured. 



Artificial as well as natural wool is brought into Eussia, but the import latterly 

 has diminished visible and at present amounts only to about 14,000 pouds per year. There 

 are eighteen artificial woollen mills, scattered in the Polish district, possessing breaking 

 machinery for preparing such product, with a total production of about 200,000 pouds. 

 This material finds a market, owing to its cheapness. Taking the price of woollen rap 

 of low quality at from 60 kopecks to 3 roubles per poud for cloth, flannel and hosiery, 

 and from 3.50 to 6.50 roubles for higher class, as thibet and clean kamgarn, artificial 

 w'ool in a flnished state is valued at from 4.50 to 15 roubles per poud. 



Weft yarn is prepared from artificial wool with a mixture of 15 to 85 percent 

 of natural wool, or of cotton, for the better union of the short fibres and for strength- 

 ening the yarn. The adoption of artificial wool in the preparation of cloth is a 

 thing not to be desired on account of the non-durability of the textures made from 

 it, and because of the possibility of making at home fabrics of normal strength and 

 quality. At the same time, the use of artificial wool for the under-weft may be 

 acknowledged as suitable, and reduces the cost of manufacture. Although in Russia, 

 the manufacture of artificial wool up to the present time has developed comparatively 

 rapidly, still at the same time it may be definitely stated that it has not ex- 

 tended to such a degree as abroad, for instance in Germany and Austria. In Ger- 

 many according to investigations by Grothe and Hohnel, instances are very rare 

 where artificial wool is not used in fulled woollen textures. 



A check to the development in Eussia of this undesirable branch of the woollen 

 industry has been given by the customs tariff measures, namely, the imposing of a 

 considerable duty on artificial wool itself, as well as on foreign rags, which are more or 

 less indispensible in the manufacture of higher classes of this wool. Russian manu- 

 factories cannot dispense with foreign materials, as Russian rags are coarser, and as 

 the woollen rag business in Russia, in general, is not so well organized as abroad. 



Import of foreign goods. 



Carded woollen yarns are imported only in insignificant quantities as the home 

 product is sufficent to supply the demand for home weaving. With respect to Saxon 

 and English combed yarns, Russian wooll spinners turn out much too little to 

 supply the constantly increasing manufacture of unfelted goods. 



The import of various yarns over the European frontiers for the last fifteen 

 years is shown in the following data: 



